he nourishment of superstition_. The zeal for proselytism, in itself,
can be no crime; and, if unconnected with the treasons, persecutions, and
vices, so abundantly charged upon the catholics, it is a natural sentiment
of the mind. It is indeed that propensity, which, so violently condemned in
catholics, has been the chief propagator of every sect since the
reformation to the present moment, and not without symptoms of rebellion,
and even of king-killing. Some instances, to show this, will not be
uninteresting here. The heads of the reformers, in Scotland, as we are
informed by Hume, being _desirous_ to _propagate_ their principles, entered
privately into a bond, or association, and called themselves the
_congregation of_ {54} _the Lord_, in contradistinction to the established
church, which they denominated the congregation of Satan. The tenour of the
bond was as follows:--"We, perceiving how Satan, in his members, the
antichrist of our time, does cruelly rage, seeking to overthrow and to
destroy the gospel of Christ and his congregation, ought, according to our
bounden duty, to strive, in our master's cause, even unto the death, being
certain of the victory in him. We do therefore promise, before the majesty
of God and his congregation, that we, by his grace, shall, with all
diligence, continually apply our whole power, substance, and our very
lives, to maintain, set forward, and establish, the most blessed word of
God and his congregation; and shall labour, by all possible means, to have
faithful ministers, truly and purely to minister Christ's gospel and
sacraments to the people: we shall maintain them, nourish them, and defend
them, the whole congregation of Christ, and every member thereof, by our
whole power, and at the hazard of our {55} lives, against Satan, and all
wicked power, who may intend tyranny and trouble against the said
congregation: unto which holy word and congregation we do join ourselves;
and we forsake and renounce the congregation of Satan, with all the
superstitions, abomination, and idolatry thereof; and moreover shall
declare ourselves manifestly enemies thereto, by this faithful promise
before God, testified to this congregation by our subscriptions.--At
Edinburgh, the third of December, 1557."--Hume adds; "Had the subscribers
of this zealous league been content only to demand a toleration of the new
opinions, however incompatible their pretensions might have been with the
policy of the church